Liquid crystal panels are generally used for displays in television devices, mobile phones, and mobile information terminals. The liquid crystal panels do not emit light, and thus use light from lighting devices (namely, backlight devices). Such a lighting device is arranged on a rear surface side of the liquid crystal panel and configured to output planer light toward a rear surface of the liquid crystal panel.
Such a lighting device includes a light guide plate and light sources arranged to be opposed to an edge surface of the light guide plate as disclosed in Patent Document 1. Such a lighting device is generally known as a side-light type (or an edge-light type) lighting device, and the edge surface of the light guide plate is a light entrance surface through which light emitted from the light source enters the light guide plate and a front-side plate surface of the light guide plate is a light exit surface through which the light exits the light guide plate toward the rear surface of the liquid crystal panel.
The liquid crystal panel that is held between a metal frame member and a plastic frame member having a light-blocking property is generally arranged on the light exit surface side of the lighting device. The metal frame member is arranged to cover a front-side peripheral edge of the liquid crystal panel and the plastic frame member is arranged to cover a rear-side peripheral edge of the liquid crystal panel.
With a recent demand for reduction in thickness of the display device, a display device without having the frame member arranged on the rear-surface side of the liquid crystal panel has been proposed. In such a kind of display device, the liquid crystal panel is arranged on a front-side plate surface of the light guide plate.
As is disclosed in Patent Document 2, it is known that the light guide plate is fixed within the lighting device by using a projection portion included on a side surface of the light guide plate. In recent years, LEDs that are linearly arranged (hereinafter, a LED row) have been used as the light source in the lighting device.